Half a day later Liam overlooked the training guild members. He remained somewhat apprehensive. In his eyes the players' skills weren't up to par yet. But his friends thought the guild members were already doing quite well, eager to finally attack the world boss.
Liam relented with a sigh. On his signal everyone stopped the training, gathering in front of a large stone on which Hotpot stood.
"Finally!"
"Ah my butt hurts."
"My cute little turtle looks so tired."
"I'm exhausted."
"I think we're done. How about going fishing, bro?"
"Nah, I still wanted to finish that one quest."
"Oh, nice. I'm coming with you."
The guild members chatted happily as they jumped down from their mounts. Some who cared more about their mounts took out food or caressed their fur. Others were glad to get rid of the beasts as fast as possible.
In one corner a large group of people gathered showing off their mounts, ranking the cutest, most beautiful, and fiercest.
Meanwhile those not in the know were looking towards Hotpot, curious what mounts the best players on the server had.
After a few seconds Cyclone stepped forward. She felt gratified noticing the guild members gradually calming down.
"Thank you for your commitment, everyone. I hope you learned a lot from Mirage today. Now it is time to put your skills to the test. In a moment we will set off to attempt the ranking quest for our guild!"
Immediately a tumult broke out as the guild members discussed the revelation. No one was really surprised but now that the announcement came so suddenly, excitement quickly spread.
"Guild leader, can you reveal the quest?"
Cyclone smiled proudly at her guild as she announced brimming with enthusiasm:
"Of course. We… will be slaying a world boss!"
"A world boss!"
"Great, I enjoyed the battle against Vren a lot!"
"This will be a tough fight…"
"Hey, don't dampen everyone's spirits! We got this!"
The players discussed animatedly. The fervor spread quickly. Ultimately everyone looked forwards to the fight. There weren't enough chances to fight together with the whole guild.
Cyclone rode the peak enthusiasm as she suddenly shouted loudly:
"Let's advance to rank two! For Dream Avenue!"
"Dream Avenue!"
"Dream Avenue!"
"Dream Avenue!"
A unified chant shook the valley creating a special force as everyone felt they were part of something great. The guild members cheered for a while until Cyclone and Balm urged everyone to set off.
Together they walked back to a teleporter at the outskirts of Duabalis City. Their procession garnered a lot of attention, but this time Liam wasn't too worried about others following them as the fight's location was too obscure.
Over the last two weeks sun's knight made sure that every guild member unlocked a certain teleporter in the Northern Desert to the north of Aviar.
The guild members didn't interpret too much into the request but now as they were told to travel there, everyone understood that the higher-ups were well prepared.
"Damn, such a far-off teleporter but the bosses knew about it."
"Such extensive knowledge."
"That's called preparation!"
"Did anyone know that there was a world boss there?"
A slightly older man stoked his bearded chin, pondering with furrowed brows as he voiced his confusion:
"I hear that The Only Way tried to fight a world boss yesterday but got wiped."
"Really?"
"Oh right, I heard this as well."
"I'm not sure if they got wiped. I heard their time ran out."
The first man continued:
"Well, the details don't matter. But it's said the reason The Only Way discovered the world boss is because they chased after one of our teams."
"What?! They dare?"
"Oh, of course. That's what the commotion yesterday was about!"
"Damn, serves them right that they got wiped!"
Suddenly one of the discussing players noticed a low-key thief walking not far away, shouting out to him:
"Hey, Friendly Dagger! Weren't you part of Final Fend's team yesterday? Tell us what happened."
Friendly Dagger turned around and joined the group. He recounted yesterday's events from the perspective of Final Fend's team.
He also heard that The Only Way returned in full force after dying to the world boss once, trying to take it down. But he didn't know how far they got before the game went offline.
Finally, someone also asked about his role during the fight. Immediately Friendly Dagger's chest swelled with pride. He retold how he took the role of bait stressing that he made it out alive after the effect of the black icicle ended.
Friendly Dagger's recounts attracted a large audience, which finally showered him with praise, causing the thief to smile brightly.
While talking the players finally stepped through the teleporter arriving in the Northern Desert, eagerly welcomed by the burning sun.
"So hot…"
"I forgot my sunglasses."
Most of the guild members didn't enjoy the searing heat. They pulled on their collars and fanned themselves with their hands.
"It's not that bad, guys. You'll get used to it."
"Just imagine yourselves in some cold place."
Cyclone and Fortune spoke loudly, trying to placate everyone.
"Don't worry. The fight will be in a different climate.", joined Liam as well.
Hearing this, the guild members joked around until everyone passed through the teleporter before they set off together. They stepped out of the large, dilapidated temple they were in and began to wander through the desert.
The long procession trudged through the sandy desert, constantly accompanied by the searing sun. It was a test of resolve for the guild.
Fortunately, Liam and his friends had everyone prepare tons of water. In the game simple water was a common item with the effect of a minuscule recovery of stance. It had no benefits towards heat endurance.
But just the psychological effect of having cold water run down one's throat or emptying a bottle over one's head made the journey much more bearable.
And soon the guild even found something to distract themselves when monsters began to appear. Although the monsters in this zone were quite fierce with levels ranging from 43 to 45, being swarmed by close to three hundred players, they could barely fight back.
Like a swarm of locusts, the guild carved out a straight path leaving a couple hundred dead bodies in their wake.
Finally, after an hour of travel on their mounts the guild climbed a large dune and looked down at the landscape behind. Another magical anomaly appeared in their vision.
This was a large plain formed from brown rocks, its surface flattened by ice and fire created from the spontaneously gathering mana. Everywhere above the plain, mana wove together in a chaotic storm. It randomly formed a hailstorm in one corner while creating rain of fire in another.
The two dangerous phenomena moved over the rocky plains. When they touched, it would lead to small-scale explosions emitting large clouds of smoke.
After the smoke lifted there was a certain chance that the rock below turned into materials suitable for magically enchanted weapons and armors.
Usually this place called Northern Four-Element Plain was teeming with treasure seekers and attracted wandering tribes to move around its outskirts.
However, over the past few weeks a terrifying monster would periodically appear. It was a black draconian wielding dark magic, devouring every living being in his sight.
Thus, no one dared to come close to the plain anymore. Until today, when brave players appeared to slay the fearsome monster.
Looking down from the dune Dream Avenue scrutinized the draconian. Compared to the first time Liam and his friends saw him, Mehphre had little human features left.
The beast stood at more than ten meters tall, enough to overlook some common forests. Each of his proud, black wings was even longer, emitting ominous black air with every flap, which seemed able to corrode the surrounding mana.
Standing on two legs with menacing claws Mehphre created deep cracks in the rocky surface, which had been naturally hardened by the magical anomaly year-round.
Some parts of Mehphre's bodies were covered in custom-made black armor, maybe as a form of remembrance towards his earlier days.
"This is the world boss?"
"Looks quite fierce."
"Haha, now I'm getting excited."
The guild members animatedly discussed the world boss. Liam gave his friends some last advice before confirming that everyone was ready. He nodded at Cyclone and Balm.
The two women swiped their eyes over the excited guild members. They couldn't help but grin as well.
"Are your ready… to slay a world boss?!", shouted Cyclone loudly, eliciting cheers from the guild.
"Great! Follow us into battle!"
Cyclone and Balm raised their fists, looking quite fierce with the massive sun behind their backs. They turned their mounts and began moving down the dune.
The members of Dream Avenue began to close in on the boss. Just as practiced Cyclone and Balm fell back together with the other ranged players while the tanks marched at the front, led by Silver Blade and Radiant Shield.
The ground trembled as the three hundred players crossed the rocky plain on their mounts.
"Hehehe."
Suddenly an eerie laughter sounded through the plain. Mehphre turned around slowly, staring at the players with black, slit-like irises.